Bryce workers vent worries

About 150 employees crowded into the chapel at Bryce Hospital on Tuesday to tell John Houston, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, their concerns about the possible sale of Bryce.

By Lydia Seabol AvantStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | About 150 employees crowded into the chapel at Bryce Hospital on Tuesday to tell John Houston, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health, their concerns about the possible sale of Bryce.Two concerns were clear: What about the employees? And what will happen to the patients if Bryce is moved?“We feel that politics are being played with our jobs,” said Ulysses Lavender, who works in therapeutic recreation at Bryce.The University of Alabama is negotiating with the Alabama Department of Mental Health to purchase the 175-acre property, which would entail building or renovating another facility elsewhere to house the state mental hospital.One possibility that’s been discussed — moving Bryce Hospital to Birmingham — would uproot 650 jobs in Tuscaloosa, a move that local officials maintain would exact a drastic impact on the local economy.The board of trustees of the state Department of Mental Health met with Gov. Bob Riley at Bryce Hospital on Oct. 8 to discuss an offer from the University of Alabama to purchase the property, which is adjacent to the university campus. It was during that meeting that the board made a recommendation to Riley to turn down UA’s $60 million offer. The mental health department estimates it would cost $85 million to build a new 268-bed, state-of-the-art hospital to replace Bryce. Meanwhile, ADMH is exploring other options, including privatizing the hospital, or moving Bryce to the former Carraway Hospital in Birmingham. Houston toured the Carraway facility with Riley last month. But he told employees Tuesday that he is concerned about that facility, including its location and its size. With 600 beds, Carraway is larger than DCH Regional Medical Center. Houston told the crowd that any decision about Bryce’s future will depend heavily on what is best for its nearly 298 patients. “I’m not concerned with the University of Alabama,” Houston said. “My responsibility is the patients here, the people with mental illness and the staff here.”What is best for the patients is to allow Bryce to stay in Tuscaloosa, employees said. “We are the best thing for the people we serve,” Lavender said. Bryce employee JoAnn Brown has worked for the state for 35 years and is eligible to retire if Bryce moves. But she said she was worried for her coworkers who don’t have that option. “I care about the patients,” Brown told Houston. “But I also care about us and want some kind of assurance that we won’t be scattered out.”Employees of the adolescent unit at Bryce wanted to know what would happen to their jobs. The state recently sent out a request for proposals for the unit, which now serves nine patients. The University of Alabama at Birmingham responded, and is negotiating terms to contract out their services, Houston said. If an agreement between UAB and the mental health department is reached, the patients at the adolescent unit will likely be moved to UAB and the 40 employees who work with them will be dispersed to other areas at Bryce, said mental health department spokesman John Ziegler. There is no definite date on when the adolescent unit will close at Bryce, but it could happen by January, Houston told employees. When questioned about when a decision about Bryce’s future might occur, Houston said he was under no personal timeline, but that Riley would like a decision to be made while he is still in office. Riley’s term ends next year. Another public meeting will be held today to further discuss the Bryce relocation. State Reps. Alan Harper and Chris England and Mac MacArthur, executive director of the Alabama State Employees Association, will host a meeting for Bryce employees, their families, people with mental illnesses and their families, as well as the public, at the Northport Civic Center at 5:30 p.m. Houston said he will forward the employees’ comments and concerns to Riley, and that he will also invite the governor to meet with the Bryce employees.

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